Tuesday, May 15, 2018

'Minnie Van' drivers at Disney World can join Orlando union

"Minnie Van" drivers who work at Walt Disney World Resort can now join an Orlando union, according to a new ruling from the federal labor board.

The Associated Press reports an official with the National Labor Relations Board ruled last week that 60 drivers can be represented by Teamsters Local 385 in Orlando.

The red, polka-dotted "Minnie Vans" are the work of a partnership between Lyft and Disney – drivers are summoned by guests using the Lyft app for a $20 private ride instead of having to wait for one of the theme park's buses. These Disney employees are paid anywhere between $13 per hour to $21 per hour, the AP reports.

Disney had previously argued these drivers could not be represented by Teamsters because the union "waived their right to represent any workers not mentioned in its five-year contract" negotiated in 2014, according to the AP.

The NLRB disagreed. The board's regional director David Cohen ruled that the waiver isn't applicable to these drivers because their jobs didn't exist when the contract was negotiated. Teamsters already represents bus drivers and transportation workers at the Orlando theme park, and Cohen argued these jobs all have "functionally the same" goal of transporting guests.